Windows 95/98 forum: How to Create a PST if I can't open Outlook

I've got an old hard drive (no longer actively used) from a laptop that ran Windows 98 and Outlook 2000. The monitor of the laptop died and was replaced, but the hard drive didn't fit in the new laptop encasement so I've just held onto it.

I had about a year's worth of email on there in Outlook, and unfortunately only clicked "YES" one time early on when Outlook gave me the weekly "Would you like to archive your messages now?" If only I had listened to it...

So now I want to retrieve all those emails. I have an adaptor that allows me to plug the hard drive in as a USB device on my current desktop PC. The data is all still there and intact on the old hard drive. I did a search and found one PST file (from that lone backup I did) but as expected it only has the couple of weeks worth of email that I actually backed up.

Ideally I'd be able to open the old Outlook2000 and view my inbox with the full year's worth of email, but I cannot do this because of obvious technical limitations/incompatibilities between the Outlook installed on an old hard drive. (I've tried anyway. It doesn't work.)

The big question is: The email data *is* on the hard drive because, up till the day it became un-usable, it was all visible to me in my Inbox when running Outlook. Yes, it's not on the PST, but it's gotta be somewhere on the hard drive. How do I get it off???

I've spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure this out and would be gracious for any help anyone could offer. MSFT isn't helping because Outlook 2000 is "no longer supported." Thanks!

Are you sure? If it isn't in that PST-file I'm inclined to say it's nowhere. Are you sure there isn't an 'archive' folder in that PST-file? Make a copy and compact it. How big is it now (in MB): 2 weeks of mail or 1 year of mail?

I got the prompt asking me to backup every week or so, but I rarely did. Yet, I had hundreds of emails in my inbox in Outlook available for my viewing whether I was connected to my server, or if I was offline.

The PST file is only 1.5MB -- I'm guessing that goes along with having only a couple week's worth of emails.

As I think about it, I believe I did back up more often than just those two weeks worth that I found (though it was still not done with any diligence). But if my explorer search comes up with only one PST file (the one I mentioned), where else could the data be? (I did un-hide all hidden files when doing the search).

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If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended.

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